Taking Control of Your Life

This tool contains a number of elements that can reduce stress risk:

• Reflection
• Analysis
• Acceptance
• Prioritising
• Planning
• Action

To be most effective this tool needs to have some time and thought allocated to it.

Extract from the download:- Taking Control of Your Life

Please follow the instructions below:

1. Take a blank piece of paper. Reflect for a few minutes on all of the ‘sources of pressure’ in your life. Think about your whole life: home, work, relationships, money, major life events, environment and so on.
2. Now use your ‘My Control Inventory’ sheet. Place each item in your ‘sources of pressure’ list into one of the two columns. That is, for each item decide quickly whether this is something you have ‘some control’ over or ‘no control’ over.
3. Once you have your two lists, challenge the list items on the right. Do you really have no control over these things? Are there some, when you really think about them, where you do have some control? If so, move them into the left column.
4. Now, accept that you cannot control the things remaining on the right. ‘Release’ them, let them go. Stop trying to influence what you cannot control. Stop knocking your head against a brick wall.
5. Concentrate your efforts on the list on the left. Go through the list and prioritise them. Which of these things are the most important in terms of your stress levels right now?
6. Take the ‘Things I can control – Actions to Reduce Stress’ table. Select the five most important items in order of importance from the left hand column of your ‘Control Inventory’ and write them into the left hand column of the ‘Things I can control – Actions to Reduce Stress’ table.